Crown of Flowers
by Keeperofthemoon0
Summary: He would make her a crown of flowers while they sat in the middle of his garden. And she would be his princess, though not really. RLGW


----------------

Title: Crown of Flowers

Summary: He would make her a crown of flowers while they sat in the middle of his garden. And she would be his princess, though not really. RL/GW

Disclaimer: I only own the plot.

----------------

"Are you watching me, Ginny?"

Oh yes, how could she not watch him?

"You'll need to know how to make these when I'm gone."

Where was he going?

"I don't want the flowers to feel lonely, they like to be plucked from the ground and formed into crowns."

Did he know he just rhymed? Ginny smiled, leaning forward ever so slightly, her knees digging into the dirt. She knew that her outfit would be stained terribly when she was done but she hardly cared now, for what was the point? There was no one to impress anymore.

The thought caused Ginny to frown and she pushed it away, looking at Remus and his long fingers, which were plucking flowers from the garden outside of his house. She smiled when he lifted his gray eyes up to hers.

"A flower for the lady?" He asked, reaching out and giving her a yellow daisy.

Where the daisy came from, Ginny couldn't be too sure, for Remus' garden was overgrown and there were different types of flowers everywhere. Ginny accepted the flower, feeling a blush come to her freckled cheeks.

"You're making me a crown, Remus?" Ginny asked, softly.

Remus chuckled, the sound comforting as he nodded, brown hair falling in his face. Ginny reached over, using the hand that did not hold a yellow daisy to brush the hair from his forehead. He stilled for a moment and looked up at her again, frowning.

"A crown for my princess," He told her.

Ginny tilted her head as he went back to work, creating the crown. It was some talent of his that he had showed her in her second year of Hogwarts, when he was professor. She couldn't remember exactly why he gave her a crown of flowers but she knew that it had been the beginning of their relationship, though nothing more then platonic at the time.

Turning her eyes away from Remus, who had dirt smeared on his arms and a line of it on his left cheek, she looked up at his house. It was small, only one story, and wooden. He liked isolation, she had found out quickly, and music, along with his garden. Ginny frowned, staring at the house.

It looked rather dull, with a broken window and chipped painting. Her eyebrows drew together. That was hardly like Remus, to leave something so messy. But, then again, a nasty little voice in her head said to her, he hardly had the ability to fix up his house.

Being a werewolf did have a terrible affect on his income, Ginny thought dully.

"Here," Remus whispered and Ginny smiled brightly, glad to be away from her own thoughts.

The crown had several different types of flowers in it and Ginny took it from Remus' hands, lifting it up and placing it atop her head. Remus grinned, using his hands to fix the crown, brushing stray, red hairs from her face.

"Thank you," Ginny told him before standing, grabbing his hands.

Her hands got covered in dirt from taking his but it hardly mattered. She liked the way his hands felt in her own. Ginny smiled, leaning forward and brushing her lips against his cheek.

A shot of magic seemed to go through them and Ginny's smile grew as she leaned backwards. Remus was smiling at her and intertwined their fingers.

"Why do you do this to yourself, my love?" Remus asked her, his voice a mere mutter in the air.

She shrugged, not really sure of the question. The straps of her dress slipped off her shoulder and Remus leaned down. His mouth kissed her shoulder, bare skin, and she shivered.

"Why do you let me do this, my love?" Remus questioned, continuing to kiss her.

Remus lifted his head and stared at her for a long moment.

"Why are you hiding from your life?"

Ginny's smile froze, as did her joy and her pleasure of being near Remus. There seemed to be a moment of just silence in which Ginny's smile slipped and she was forced to remember.

"Remember what?" She asked herself.

Remember the past… reality… the world…

"Remember that I'm not here," Remus told her.

"Where are you then?" Ginny questioned, her eyebrows furrowing.

Remus let go of his grip of her hands and took a step away from her, one of his sad smiles coming to his lips. Ginny frowned, taking a step toward him.

"Remus? Where are you going?" She cried out.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, my love," Remus said to her, putting his hands behind his back as though to force himself not to touch her. "I'm sorry that I cannot be with you as you face reality."

Ginny's face fell and she walked the rest of the steps toward Remus but, for some reason, she couldn't really reach him. Distress rose in her chest and she turned her head, looking around her to see if someone had cast some magical force between her and him.

There was no one there, though. No one was there and the flowers were now dead and the sun wasn't shining all too nicely. A sob caught in Ginny's throat.

"What's happening Remus?" Ginny whimpered. "Everything's dying!"

Remus shook his head slowly. Lifting a hand to the top of her head, Ginny grabbed the crown of flowers perched there. She didn't bother to look down at them.

"Are you ready to go, Ginny?" Remus asked but it wasn't Remus' voice.

His mouth formed the words but the voice was different, familiar but not his. Ginny's breathing sharpened.

"Go where?"

Remus sighed but his image was disappearing fast. Ginny reached out toward him but her hand strayed mid-stretch. He was fading.

Because he isn't real. Ginny blinked, slowly. What?

"Home." The voice echoed from behind her.

No longer did Remus stand before her, just an empty field bordered by trees. Ginny turned her head, looking behind her.

"Ginny," A figure came up to her from behind.

Turning around fully, Ginny blinked once more, feeling very disorientated. Ron was standing there, his shoulders sagging and his eyes looking rather red.

"Are you all right?" Ron searched her face for a response.

Ginny gave him a shaky, confused smile, looking around the garden of dead flowers once more for Remus. He wasn't there. As if knowing what she was thinking, which he probably did, for Ron and Ginny were always close like that, Ron sighed heavily.

"Remus' not here Ginny, remember? He's… he's gone."

"He said that too," Ginny admitted, biting her lip. "Where has he gone to, Ron?"

Ron's eyebrows furrowed before he looked up at the sky. Ginny waited a moment before looking up at the sky also.

"He's not here anymore. He's not coming back."

"Oh," said Ginny. "Why?"

A strange sound escaped Ron then, half sigh and half whimper, and it wasn't until Ron took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him did she realize he had stopped looking up at the sky long ago. Ginny felt her bottom lip tremble.

"Remus Lupin is dead, Ginny. He died. Don't you remember?" Ron told her this in a tired, worn down tone.

"But he was just here!" Ginny denied, trying to turn around and point to the area behind her. "I swear he was! I- He-"

But he wasn't… was he? He had died only two months ago, during the Final Battle, didn't he? Ginny frowned. No! Remus wouldn't leave her…

He did though, didn't he? Ron caught Ginny in his arms before she could cry, before reality hit her and before the first tear could fall.

"I'm going mad, aren't I?" She asked with a laugh.

"No," Ron assured her. "You just forget sometimes, that's all."

Backing away from Ron, Ginny bent her head, wiping her face clear of any signs of tears. She stopped, though, when her eyes caught sight of the object her other hand was gripping. A crown of flowers.

"It's time to go home," Ginny whispered.

She barely saw Ron as she lifted her head, taking another look around Remus' backyard. It was dead and empty. But the flowers for the crown were very much alive.

"Come on then." Ron took hold of her hand and walked her to where two brooms were; their transportation home.

Ginny closed her eyes as she released the crown of flowers. They hit the ground dully. She had to face reality… with or without Remus.

----------------

Author's Note: I wrote the first part of this story so long ago… then I've come back to finish it. It's not long at all and I sort of tried to make it seem as though Remus were alive but I didn't put too much effort in it.

What did you think? Review!


End file.
